Review: Her and the Voice in Her Head, Theatre Peckham

Another exciting month lies ahead at Theatre Peckham and its sister Canada Water Theatre as their Young, Gifted and Black season gets underway, with thirteen shows scheduled. I was lucky enough to see one of the opening offerings, Her and the Voice in Her Head, a solo 60 minute show by writer and performer Lorraine Adeyefa.

We enter to see a sofa with clothes strewn all over the place, a case waiting to be packed, a giant mirror to the side, before the lights go down and Adeyefa explodes onto the stage, lip-synching to a whirlwind of numbers. She engages us immediately, even getting us to do the beatbox backing track. There is a manic quality that intrigues – this is covering for something deeper, you feel – as well as entertaining us. ‘Her’, as we never get to know her real name, is a young woman, struggling to find a meaningful relationship. She listens to a voicemail from Jamahl, the man she has finally given her virginity to, only for him to shatter all her dreams with the hammer blow of “let’s just be friends” Aaaargh!

Sis is on hand, however, to give her advice on the phone. Adeyefa uses this device excellently as it actually creates a dialogue on stage thanks to the brilliant sound designer on the desk, Immanuel Baptist. Sis is sounding board, therapist and counsellor, and through her, we get to see Her trying to make sense of her relationships and the men she has met. Cue more comedy from Adeyefa, mimicking the drummer boy she fell for as a teenager and then Femi who postures mad promises but never delivers.

What also makes this production memorable is Isaac West’s excellent lighting – moments of darkness, spots and shadows that Her moves into and out of, excellent use of coloured gels, providing variety and interest out of what is in effect a simple set.Adeyefa, helped all along the way by the strong guiding hand of director Estelle Williams, is absolutely brilliant at keeping the ball in the air, both with her writing that sizzles with humour and pathos and her vibrant performance. She uses every bone of her body to communicate, but above all her eyes. She has a fearless physicality which is liberating for her and also for us: here is somebody opening herself up, letting us in to her deeply vulnerable self. Sis asks the crucial question – “Do you actually love yourself?”

We realise that rejection from the men she has felt love, lust, affection for, have never been lasting as she has self-doubt issues. On top of that, Her has cultural pressures, her Nigerian upbringing, religious discipline, adhered to and abandoned but Sunday school resonances stay deep inside her.

Resolution of sorts arrives with a saved voicemail, an actual voice in her head from her grandma, the one person she really felt love for and from. She starts packing, clearing away the mess in her bedroom but also the muddle in her head. Her is a self-confessed drama queen and we certainly get that, but by the end Adeyefa has been able to draw us in, not through energy and attack this time, but by quietly confessing to us her deepest feelings about herself and self-doubts. It is tender and affecting, and she has us in the palm of her hands.

If this is the standard of the shows in this Young, Gifted and Black season then we are in for a real treat of talents and promise. Remember these names – you saw them first at Theatre Peckham!

Her and the Voice in Her Head has now completed its run at Theatre Peckham but check out more brilliant work in The Young Gifted and Black Season, which plays until Friday 30 October.

Writer: Lorraine Adeyefa

Director: Christelle Elwin

Sound: Immanuel Baptist

Lighting: Isaac West

Producer: Tobi King Bakore